Here are three romantic comedies that are adaptations of Shakespeare plays.
1. She’s The Man
She’s The Man starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night.
After the girls’ soccer team at her high school is cut, Viola (Bynes) and the other players ask to join the boys’ team. They are immediately shut down by sexist comments from the team’s coach and are not given the chance to play. Viola’s boyfriend Justin also supports the coach’s decision to not allow the girls to try out for the team, which leads to Viola dumping Justin on the spot.
To keep playing soccer, Viola decides to impersonate her twin brother Sebastian at his new boarding school Illyria Prep, which also happens to be her high school Cornwall’s rival. Viola devises a plan to try out for the boys’ soccer team at Illyria and beat Cornwall to prove her worth as an athlete and get even with her ex.
Of course, hilarity and chaos ensues throughout this unforgettable and very quotable 2006 romantic comedy.
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
10 Things I Hate About You is the modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew.
When the new kid in school Cameron James (Joseph Gordan-Levitt) starts crushing on his classmate Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), he soon learns she’s not allowed to date anyone until her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) does. The catch? Kat is the school’s shrew.
This doesn’t deter Cameron from trying to find a way to date Bianca, however. In fact, he enlists his new friend Michael (David Krumholtz) to help him find someone who could possibly date Kat. Their pick? Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), the high school’s resident bad boy. Cameron convinces Patrick to do his bidding by paying him to woo Kat. (Spoiler: It ends in a real romance). This movie is funny as it is heartfelt.
3. Warm Bodies
Warm Bodies starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer is Romeo and Juliet (Zombie Apocalypse Version).
Warm Bodies tells the story of sweet, music-loving zombie R (Hoult), a zombie who feels guilty for needing to eat people to, you know, “survive.” One day, while he and his zombie best friend M (Rob Corddry) are scavenging for humans to feast in an abandoned city, they come across human teenagers.
Apart of that group is Julie (Palmer), her boyfriend (David Franco), her best friend Nora (Lio Tipton), and others who had been sent on a mission from the remaining human settlement to scour their former city for medication and other supplies. After eating Julie’s boyfriend, R feels a rush of feeling when he sees Julie and decides to spare her life and take her back to the airplane where he lives. Romance and hope arrives, despite their stark differences.
